The Charge

This might hurt.

The Case

Every show that hopes to last faces a tough challenge: how to balance the
need to build an audience with the need to get new viewers into the show. Lots
of TV opts to go problem-of-the-week for the first few seasons before diving
headlong into a more complex character relationships and/or mythologies. It's an
especially difficult choice for fantasy shows to make, since they have to
establish their world and provide compelling episodes, and not put off new
viewers (at least for the first season or two). In addition to being a fantasy
show, Teen Wolf is also a teen soap opera, with relationships shifting
almost episode to episode. After two twelve-episode seasons, the show has broken
out for its first twenty-four-episode run. It's good that the show gets a bit of
room to grow, but Teen Wolf: Season 3, Part 1 will probably separate the
fans from the uninitiated—there's plenty here to love, but unless you're
already invested, this is not place to jump on.

Last season, teen werewolf Scott McCall (Tyler Posey) had to deal with a
shape-shifting creature called the Kanima, while his girlfriend Allison (Crystal
Reed) was learning to become a werewolf hunter. Unsurprisingly, that didn't end
well, and she broke up with him in the final episode just as it was revealed
that a new pack of Alpha werewolves were in town. We pick up a bit later, as
Allison has given up hunting, Scott is trying to be good, and the Alphas reveal
themselves and their leader, Deucalion. People and animals are dying, while
Scott and his friends look into it. All twelve episodes in this half of the
season are presented on three discs.

One of the interesting things that Teen Wolf has continued to do is
refuse to choose between external and internal threats. A lot of shows would
either introduce their band of do-gooders and have them assailed by external bad
guys. Or, they would introduce a group of people and gradually reveal the
treachery of one of them. Teen Wolf splits the difference. It seems like
every other episode somebody is arriving in the town, and almost all of them
seem to be up to no good. Those threats are compelling enough, but Teen
Wolf uses those threats to gradually reveal the different allegiances and
back stories of the other characters. It keeps the whole show feeling fresh
because just when we think we've got a particular bad guy figured out, he or she
helps give us some new piece of the puzzle that is the whole weird world of
Teen Wolf.

The only drawback to this approach is that it makes the show really hard to
talk about without giving spoilers. To avoid that, Season 3 continues the
pattern set by previous seasons. We have an external threat (the arrival of the
Alpha pack) that allows us to learn a bunch of things about the town and its
inhabitants. We get major insight in the lives of Scott and his friends in the
last episode, and before that we learn a bit more about werewolf mythology and
Scott's status. We get introduced to some new players in the werewolf game, and
all of this will have significant consequences for everyone moving forward.

There's still the same level of action, romance, and eye candy that we've
come to expect from the show. A lot of people watch Teen Wolf for the
shirtless dudes, and Season 3 doesn't disappoint.

This DVD set is also par for the course with Teen Wolf—twelve
episodes spread over three discs gives plenty of room for these 1.78:1
anamorphic transfers. They're bright and detailed where it matters, and boast
impressive black levels during the many nighttime scenes. Color saturation is
fine, and skin tones stay consistent and true. The Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes are
similarly impressive, keeping dialogue audible and using the surrounds during
more tense scenes.

All three discs have deleted scenes, and we also get a gag reel and
"shirtless montage" on the second disc. A featurette is included on
the third disc that looks at the pack.

I don't want to go so far as to say the show borders on the ridiculous at
this point, but the twists and turns are coming fast enough to make them no
longer believable. Or, I should say that fans will require a certain suspension
of disbelief. I would complain about this DVD set being released midseason, but
since it contains the same number of episodes as previous Teen Wolf sets
it's hard to complain too loudly.

Teen Wolf is setting itself up for a pretty solid third season, if
these first twelve episodes are anything to judge by. Though the show is
reaching the point where following it might become difficult, the various
threads are still paying off enough to make it worth it. Fans can pick this set
up knowing it's up to the usual standards of the franchise.